Volumetric muscle loss due to a variety of causes, including congenital and acquired conditions, invasive surgical procedures, and traumatic injury, produces a physiological deficit for which there are currently no effective clinical treatments. Management involves the use of existing host tissue to construct muscular flaps or grafts. However, this approach is not always feasible, delaying the rehabilitation process and restoration of tissue function. The ability to create clinically relevant autologous tissue engineered muscle repair (TEMR) constructs in vitro for restoration of muscle mass and function in vivo would remove a major hurdle to the successful skeletal muscle reconstructive procedures required to repair complex extremity and facial injuries suffered by injured individuals. See, e.g., Yoo et al., US Patent Application Publication No. US2006/0239981 (Oct. 26, 2006).